"And through all this, she maintains her same practiced grace."

       My favorite essay sample was "A Practiced Grace." First, I liked how descriptive the writer was of the barista. It was easy to visualize the girl in my mind, and it was easy to develop the impression that the barista left on the observer.
      The writer not only stated that "her blonde, shoulder-length hair is up in a ponytail," but goes on to describe the way hair hangs down in her eye and she "moves it back into place with a nervous flick of her head that has become a constant, unthinking motion. Much like breathing." I really liked this line because it gives realism to the barista. Every girl knows how often hair gets in the way, and how natural it becomes to flick our head so it doesn't get in the way. This was not an important feature of the barista, but it was definitely one that gave the character "life."'
      The writer gives a good account of the impression the barista left on her customers when he states, "She treats them all with the same respect as she makes their order." This automatically made me think of her as a kind, compassionate person. It would be difficult to perform the same task of making coffee drinks over and over again each day while still being sincerely friendly towards each customer. She is a special person for being able to do that. And the way the writer describes how she didn't roll her eyes or laugh or look sternly at her customers tells me that she has a lot of patience and that she is not a judgemental person.
      Finally, I liked the way the writer chose to observe someone that he didn't know. I think that if I chose one of my friends to write about it, it would be hard to speak purely objectively about them. Also, I would get frustrated because I would want to portray them accurately, but sometimes this is hard to do through writing because you can't say EVERY detail about them. By chosing a random coffee shop worker, the writer of "A Practiced Grace" could observe without bias or obligation to make their friend look good.
      I really enjoyed reading "A Practiced Grace." It was easy to follow and I thought it did a great job of following the prompt!